Interns join News staff for the summer months

HARTINGTON — Cedar County News readers may have noticed some new names under photos and news stories this summer.

Three interns — Hannah Ryun, Josie Heine and Lauren Bernecker — have joined the Cedar County News staff for the summer.

Both Josie Heine, 18, and Lauren Bernecker,18, are recent graduates of Cedar Catholic High School, where they participated in their school’s yearbook and journalism class.

“I was interested in working for the newspaper because I did journalism for the past two years, and I absolutely loved that,” said Bernecker.

Heine took an interest in the photography side of the yearbook.

“My junior year of high school, I did journalism. So, I had an idea of what it was like taking pictures and trying to sell ads,” said Heine.

Ryun, 19, is a graduate of Scribner- Snyder High School and is currently studying broadcasting and communication studies at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln.

As the only college intern, Ryun’s responsibilities are to write and produce video stories and newspaper articles full-time, while the other two are working part-time for the newspaper.

Heine’s position focuses on the photography side of the paper.

“I go to the events, like the baseball games, softball games, anything that’s happening in Hartington,” said Heine.

Bernecker has taken on a reporting role. Her first article featured the opening of the Hartington swimming pool.

As of now, Ryun’s stories include a Memorial Day feature and video, Randolph’s First State Bank 90th anniversary feature and video, the Coleridge Park dedication feature and video, and an article about Hartington’s city clerk, She is also helping to cover the Cedar County commissioners, and is attending school board and city council meetings in Laurel and Randolph The Cedar County News has tried to hire interns every summer, usually conducting interviews in late March or early April.

“We just feel it’s a great way to both teach the young people our profession and to help give them some confidence,” said Cedar County News Co-Publisher Rob Dump.

Year agrees, adding, “They are also great for reinvigorating us. Their enthusiasim is contagious, and we love it.”

Ryun heard about the internship through the UNL College of Journalism and Mass Communication Dean Sheri Vail’s weekly newsletter and job board. She applied and did an interview with the News publishers.

She is the 15th UNL Journalism School student to move to Hartington for the summer for an internship here.

She joins a prestigious list of former Cedar County News interns. who have gone on to work for much larger newspapers, including the New York Times, The Arizona Republic, Bloomberg News, The Statesman Journal (Salem, Ore.), Omaha World-Herald and Lincoln Journal Star, Both high school interns heard about the internship through the announcements at school and took an interest.

“Josie brought it up on the bus, and I was like, Okay, I’ve been thinking about it too,” said Bernecker. “I thought that it would be something fun to do in the summer that we could do together.”

Heine hopes this internship will help her get better at getting out of her comfort zone as she heads off to Wayne State College to study human services and early childhood education in the fall.

“Learning to get out of my comfort zone and just like, talk to people I haven’t ever talked to before. Hopefully, that goes on with college and helps me adjust my social skills,” said Heine.

As Bernecker’s assignments also include interviewing, she hopes to expand her communication skills as she also heads to Wayne State College in the fall.

“I feel like communication skills with interviewing people and stuff, I feel like that’s a really good skill to have in life,” said Bernecker. “Being able to write my thoughts down and organize them in a way that’s easy for everyone to understand can make a positive impact.”

Heine and Bernecker said their advice to others looking to hold this position in the future is to get out of their comfort zone and try something new.

“I would say definitely look into it, if it’s something that interests you, because you really can’t go wrong,” said Bernecker. “I highly recommend.”

“It will help you in the long run if you get nervous to take pictures or talk to other people,” said Heine.